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Most optimal Kustom variation for LK

Kindred

Let Be Be Finale Of Seem
So I was wondering what combo of abilities you all have tested and which one is the most optimal variation.

I'm a WSL main and love the mobility and anti-zoning abilities this variation offers. At the same time it's pressure is clearly lacking. LQ is arguably best of the tourney variations (especially due to its pressure) so I was thinking of combining both.

Kustom 1 (Dragon Fire, Dragon teleport, Parry)
  • Zoning out this custom is hard because of the teleport
  • I get a boost of damage as well as having the opponent start blocking or do empty jumps in reaction to a potential teleport.
  • The addition of the parry not only grants an incredible KB but also a strong counter to interrupts
Has anybody tested out a different variation or thinks a certain ability is too good to remove (maybe the command grab which, I must admit, Im not super familiar with)
 
I think having low fireball replace dragon teleport creates his strongest pressure on block variation.

  • Low fireball makes them hesitant to take their turn back when blocking which leads into
  • Dragon fire as a cancel mid-string. Before, B12 and maybe S3 were his only most viable cancels at -6 and -9 while everything else was -12 to -20. The threat of low fireball makes it harder to react to even the more minus cancels as well as the obvious benefit of hitting them if they do try to push buttons
  • Parry also covers provides cover for dragon fire if they are not afraid of fireballs. It has a similar animation to dragon fire and limits them to d3/4 when trying to escape the pressure.
I essentially recreated flame fist Liu Kang without his windmill punches. If the match up is too zoning dependant (or otherwise gives trouble getting in), I swap parry for teleport.
 

Kindred

Let Be Be Finale Of Seem
I think having low fireball replace dragon teleport creates his strongest pressure on block variation.

  • Low fireball makes them hesitant to take their turn back when blocking which leads into
  • Dragon fire as a cancel mid-string. Before, B12 and maybe S3 were his only most viable cancels at -6 and -9 while everything else was -12 to -20. The threat of low fireball makes it harder to react to even the more minus cancels as well as the obvious benefit of hitting them if they do try to push buttons
  • Parry also covers provides cover for dragon fire if they are not afraid of fireballs. It has a similar animation to dragon fire and limits them to d3/4 when trying to escape the pressure.
I essentially recreated flame fist Liu Kang without his windmill punches. If the match up is too zoning dependant (or otherwise gives trouble getting in), I swap parry for teleport.
Interesting, but I have a question. The low fireball and Parry serve the same purpose (not letting them take their turn). Parry can't cover D3/4 but Low fireball can. So by that logic, why not just keep low fireball and swap parry for something else? If they arent afraid to press buttons when you parry, they wont be scared to press buttons when you low fireball. Also, the low fireball gives LK a good leg up in terms of zoning/anti-zoning.


Yung_hokage said:
Low fireball
cmd grab
Flame buff
I like this actually. Low fireball stops interrupting opponents during your pressure. The ability to cancel in the buff can catch them while giving you dmg boost and cmd grab can catch turtling opponents. The low fireball/straight fireball/air fireball make LK not bad full screen either.
 
Interesting, but I have a question. The low fireball and Parry serve the same purpose (not letting them take their turn). Parry can't cover D3/4 but Low fireball can. So by that logic, why not just keep low fireball and swap parry for something else? If they arent afraid to press buttons when you parry, they wont be scared to press buttons when you low fireball. Also, the low fireball gives LK a good leg up in terms of zoning/anti-zoning.
Parry is a little higher risk for much more reward, along with discouraging wake ups so that you can keep the pressure on or heavily punish them for trying to escape. It is also useful against people with long reaching normals like kotal or kabal which I personally struggle with. Otherwise, teleport is a good trade. None of the other abilities are appealing to me.
 

Joy Boy

Noob
Idk if this is old tech, but you can get a full combo punish from an energy parry at mid screen distance

Edit: The furthest end of midscreen. And you can get a full screen flying kick. Amp flying kick for 27%
 

SparkySanders

Unga bunga dude
The 3-directional inputs though.........ughhhh I cant get those for the life of me
yeah I’ll drop combos with the og command grab inputs all the time. Rewind was even dropping them getting random f2’s lol it made me feel better about it.
 
  • Low fireball
  • Dragon fire
  • Parry
I essentially recreated flame fist Liu Kang without his windmill punches. If the match up is too zoning dependant (or otherwise gives trouble getting in), I swap parry for teleport.
This is a lot of fun and I had also made the same thing, I miss the old flame fist haha. It's a very strong pressure variation and flame buff cancels throw alot of people off. Gonna try the command grab out later too, but for now this has gotta be my pick as my go-to LK variation